In nature, horses chew their food slowly and thoroughly, therefore never over-consuming, while many domesticated horses or similar grazing animal are allowed to graze at pasture others are fed in a stall or other location. Additionally many pastured horses must also be stall fed at certain times of year when the pasture may be barren of food or when the weather conditions do not permit pasture feeding. The common food choice for stall fed horses is hay, sometimes mixed with food additives such as vitamins and the like. A normal horse consumes on the order of between 2-3 percent of its own weight in the dry weight equivalent of feed daily.
One problem associated with stall-feeding is that the animal eats too fast. The horse's receptors for feeling full are located in its chewing muscles—not its stomach. This is why it is essential that the horse chews feed slowly and vigorously. If the horse eats too fast, as is encouraged with traditional feeding methods, the animal will not feel content and full and therefore will overeat and feel stressed. Side effects of this state will cause the horse will be nervous, edgy and disobedient. A horse's stomach is relatively small for its size and food passes through in as little as 12 min. From the stomach the food passes on to the small intestine, where it stays for only about 90 min. This means that 90 minutes after the stomach is empty the small intestine is also empty. This creates a problem for the horse because of the continuous production of digestive fluids (acids), which ultimately burn the inside of the digestive tract when there is no food there to absorb such fluids. This is a situation that would always occur if when horse is fed 2-4 times per day as in traditional stall-feeding.
Fast eating by a horse can also results in result in potentially harmful side effect such as “choke” or esophageal obstruction. “Bolus eating” is an expression often used to describe feeding habits of horses that are permitted to eat hay free choice and en-masse, wherein the feed is consumed without being properly chewed, as is vital for proper digestion. Because horses sleep only 3 to 4 hours in a 24 hour period and usually no longer than 20 minutes at a time, food tends to be their main focus. A common practice by horse owners across the globe is to feed the animal 2 to 4 times per day and generally in quantities that can be consumed by the horse in one to two hours often causing one or more of the harmful effects explained above. An equally harmful practice is the commonly found bale-feeding method wherein large bales of feed are dumped into bulk feeding devices more suited for cattle or are just dropped on the ground. Such methods allow the horse to eat in a bolus manner with no controls to restrict the speed or quantity of feed consumption.
Slowing down the rate at which such animals can access feed such as hay means that the crucial process of digestion is slowed down such that vital nutrients in the feed are absorbed much more efficiently. A slow continuous feeding system simulates constant foraging, thereby stimulating the animal's digestive as nature has intended.
Certain mechanical devices have been proposed to control the speed with which the horse consumes hay in order to prevent both choke and overeating. Such devices, which work with varying degrees of effectiveness, tend to be complex in design and construction, making such devices expensive to manufacture, obtain and maintain. Furthermore, some known feeding devices are of a design that has the potential to cause injury to the animal during use.
A further issue relates to feeding position. Many known feeders do not allow a horse to eat in a natural grazing position. One type of feeder includes a basin with a grille for holding hay, where the grille slopes downward and away from the horse from top to bottom. There are also hay nets and bags which are suspended well above the ground. Because of this configuration, these feeders are usually located three to four feet above the ground so that the horse can access the feed. Unfortunately, this configuration results in the horse eating in an unnatural position with its head up at the grille of the feeder.
Some of these feeders are usually permanently mounted on an inside of the animal's corral or enclosure. These types of permanently mounted feeders have many drawbacks since they are difficult to clean or relocate because they cannot be easily removed from the enclosure. But even if these feeders were not permanently mounted, they are still difficult to access, relocate and fill with feed since they are located within the animal's enclosure. This difficulty comes from the need to enter the enclosure to gain full access to the feeder.
A further problem relates to delivery of “soaked hay” to horses. Soaking hay in water is a common strategy used to manage the nutrition of many horses. Current hay soaking recommendations include soaking hay for 30 minutes in warm or 60 minutes in cold water for removal of water soluble carbohydrates (WSC), potassium (K) and dust. Soaking hay is done to remove excess WSC, K and dust intake in horses diagnosed with or to prevent reoccurrence of laminitis. However, the soaking process is time-consuming, and soaked hay cannot be stored for extended periods due to the risk of mold.
It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate all of the above noted disadvantages.